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The Continental army, the American forces of the Revolutionary War, had its share of great athletes.

George Washington was himself a fine wrestler and took on all corners. He was also a champion broad jumper. The title of "strongest" probably belongs to Peter Francisco, who at age 16, stood six feet six inches and weighed 260 pounds.

Peter was so strong that during one battle, when a 1,600-pound cannon had to be moved at all costs, he just picked it up and carried it. Records do not say how far he toted it, just that it was a "considerable distance." Read more »

Her name was Deborah Gannett. On May 21, 1782, she disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Continental army as a soldier under the name Robert Shurtleff.

She was a very good soldier, fought in many battles, and was wounded twice. When a British musket ball was buried in her leg, an officer told her to lie still until the doctor could get to her.

She was so afraid that the doctor would see she was a woman, that she took her knife and removed the musket ball herself. Before the doctor could find her, she went back to the battle. Read more »

Amelia Earhart was one of America's greatest airplane pilots. In 1937, when she and her navigator, Frederick J. Noonan, were attempting to fly 27,000 miles around the world, their plane suddenly disappeared without a trace.

A radio message was received that said the gas supply was running low, but they didn't sound worried. The last message was "We are on line of position..." and then stopped without another word. Despite an extensive search, her plane was never found. Read more »

Dwight David Eisenhower, the thirty-fourth president of the United States, played semi-pro baseball for a short time between graduating from high school and attending West Point.

Known by his nickname, "Ike," he was born in Denison, Texas, but two years later his family moved to Abilene, Kansas.

His family was too poor for him to attend college, so between 1909 and 1911, while waiting for his appointment to the U. S. Military Academy, he worked at various jobs and played baseball. Read more »

On a spring afternoon in May, 1823, a youth appeared out of nowhere, staggering along the streets of Nuremburg, Germany.

He asked to be taken to the military fort, where he handed the officer in charge two letters that said his first name was Casper and that he was 13 years old.

The letters requested that the captain keep the boy until he was 17 and could join the army. The letters were later discovered to be fake, but during all the time the boy lived, nobody ever found out who he was. Read more »

After fifteen years of spectacular robberies, the Wild West's most notorious outlaw, Jesse James, was shot in the back by two members of his gang.

They were out to collect a $10,000 reward for his capture, "dead or alive." The strange thing was that when they brought his body in, they were arrested for murder and sentenced to be hanged.

They would have died had the governor of Missouri not pardoned them. They didn't get the big reward, though. They had to settle for $500 and be grateful they were still alive. Read more »

Mathew Brady was a photographer, and he became famous because he was the first American to shoot and document a war.

Brady's 3,500 photographs taken during the Civil War provided the very first such record of any American war.

The pictures he took brought the real meaning of the fighting to the families at home. He took pictures of battles, of the wounded and the dying, of victories and defeats.

Brady's photographs were not limited to the war, however. Many of the pictures he took of other subjects are hung in museums throughout the country. Read more »

Yes, it's true. They eat not only dirt, but newspaper, wood, starch, charcoal, and lumps of clay.

They don't do it as a joke. Thy eat these non-foods because they feel they must. They have what is known as a craving for them. Nobody knows why such cravings exist or what need is filled when these strange items are eaten.

The behavior of rats may provide a clue, however. Scientists have found that rats often eat clay when they feel sick to their stomachs. The clay appears to make them feel better. Read more »

They would, could, and do. It is a custom among the Brahman people of southern India that a younger son cannot marry before his older brother does.

When it looks like the older son cannot find anyone to marry, and the younger son has already found a willing wife, an odd thing happens. The older brother is married to a tree to permit the younger son to go ahead with his wedding plans. Read more »

Francis Henry Egerton, the eighth Earl of Bridgewater was a British eccentric.

The earl owned many dogs and dressed them in tiny, well-made leather boots. Every evening, he dined with a dozen of his dogs at his large dining room table.

Since he owned more than twelve dogs, the dogs had to wait their turn for an invitation to dinner. The dogs sat around the table in comfortable armchairs and had white linen napkins tied under their chins. Read more »